


A Rival's Comforting Words Work Wonders

by Glowstick_Writes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Haikyuu!! Characters Will Show Up For Like 2 Chapters, Heavy Angst, I Suck At Deadlines, Love Confessions, M/M, Secret Relationships, like really heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstick_Writes/pseuds/Glowstick_Writes
Summary: JJ and Yuri have a unique relationship in the public eye. Out of the public eye, they're extremely close. After JJ's failure at the Grand Prix, Yuri finds himself in need of more understanding.





	1. The Short End of The Short Program

**Author's Note:**

> mmmmmmaaaaaaAAAAAA

It was quiet in JJ’s room. The only noise came from cars on the streets of Barcelona as he lay in the stiff hotel bed, staring at the ceiling. JJ thought back to his performance earlier that day.

_Risks, huh?_

With bottled up rage in his heart, he tried his best to sleep, but he wasn’t upset when he couldn’t find the rest he was searching for. With a sigh, JJ rolled out of bed, making his way over to the door. Before he left he grabbed his phone and the keycard to his room, in case he was turned away by the person he chose to seek out. With a hand on the doorknob he stopped in his tracks, hesitating, thinking about what could come of this. _Nothing.._ He reminded himself. _He doesn’t care for you._ JJ knew this, yet he still chose to turn to him of all people.

_Yuri.. please, don’t turn me away._

He took a deep breath, his thoughts turning away from his failures to instead be invaded by the young blonde beauty that was Yuri Plisetsky. The quiet _thump thump thump_ of his footsteps echoed in the halls. Luckily, all of the skaters and their coaches always had to stay in the same hotel, so Yuri was never far away from him during competitions. In the public eye the relationship between the two was never seen as anything more than small interactions between rivals. Even around their friends they were always careful to make it seem like they hated each other. JJ hated it. He hated not being able to show the love he felt for Yuri. He hated how Yuri had to brush him off in public (though, more often than not, he did it anyways), he hated how he had to wait until they were behind closed doors to show their love to each other. 50 _3, 504, 505, 506.._ JJ walked on through the halls towards the elevator to go down to Yuri’s floor. He didn’t care if Yuri pushed him away, he just needed to see him. Punching the button in frustration, JJ waited for the elevator.

 

Meanwhile, Yuri paced in his room. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. JJ’s mistakes ran through his brain over and over again. _What happened? What threw him off? Was it.. me?_ Yuri’s thoughts echoed through the silent room and he fell to his knees. Not daring to breath, he looked down at the floor with fear in his eyes and panic in his heart. Yuri would never admit it, but he had become rather attached to the Canadian prick, slowly starting to see him as something more than a rival, more than a friend. He saw JJ as someone he could turn to for comfort after a competition.

_What if it were me? What if I was the one who failed?_

Yuri thought back to the Rostelecom Cup, back to the night he had banged on JJ’s hotel room door just so he could be held by him and bury his face in the taller man’s chest. He remembered it very well, the vivid memory playing in his mind. Yuri remembered sobbing in JJ’s arms, shouting at him, and asking him questions, so many questions.

_“Why?! Why can’t I beat you?! I’ve worked so hard.. and.. and yet.. I still can’t do this..”_

_“Yuri.. It’s alright.”_

_“No, it’s not! I’ve worked so hard for so long.. and it’s gotten me nothing!”_

_“Yuri, we’re both going to make it to the Grand Prix Final, so let’s make a promise, okay? Let’s both promise to do our absolute bestin the Grand Prix Final, alright?”_

Yuri remembered being pulled into a crushing embrace, hearing sweet words of comfort and encouragement whispered in his ear. He missed it. He missed _him_. With a shaky breath Yuri stood, walking to the door—only to jump back when a harsh knocking rang though the quiet room.

“Who is it? What do you want?” Yuri’s voice cracked a little under the weight of his emotions as he spoke, silently hoping for the man who had plagued his thoughts to be on the other side of the door.

“It’s.. It’s me, Yuri. Can I come in?” _JJ.. Jean!_ Yuri rushed to the door, pulling it open faster than Phichit could whip out his phone to take a selfie. Pulling the older man into his room, Yuri slammed the door shut and dragged JJ over to his bed. Flopping back onto the bed he pulled JJ into bed next to him, with no complaints from the Canadian.

 

JJ lay next to his young Russian companion in silence. He turned over onto his side, facing away from Yuri.

“Yuri?"

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry. That performance.. I disappointed you, didn’t I?” JJ brought his hand up to his face to cover the tears forming in his eyes. “Our promise, that we made back in Russia. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it.” Yuri could hear JJ’s voice cracking more and more as he spoke. _He’s trying so hard to keep his composure.. What can I do for him? I don’t want to leave him like this, I don’t want him to suffer like this!_ Yuri shot out of bed, rushing over to the other side of the full size bed and kneeled down, pulling JJ’s hands off of his face.

“Hey, it’s alright. It is, really. Everyone still supports you. They.. we—no, I want to see you come back from this. I.. I believe in you, Jean.” Yuri placed his right hand on JJ’s cheek, the other combing through the dark hair of the man that he dared call his partner. JJ just stared. He just stared into the striking green eyes in front of him, inspecting the way they bore into his eyes, his feelings, his heart. JJ already knew he was a weak man, but he was definitely a weaker man for not being able to resist that piercing gaze. JJ gave Yuri a small smile, knowing that it wasn’t that easy, knowing that he would have to work hard to come back from this, but also knowing that Yuri would support him until the end.


	2. An Unexpected Heart-to-Heart

It had been quite a while since the Grand Prix Finale, and neither JJ nor Yuri had brought up the incident that occurred the night after the short program. It’s not that they were avoiding it, it just seemed like it was never the right time.

So they waited for it. For the right time, that is.

But the stress was getting to Yuri, because he knew that they needed to talk about it, and he knew that the longer the pair waited the harder it would be to get everything out into the open.

And he knew that they definitely needed to get everything out in the open.

Because he knew if they didn’t, nothing would change.

And he knew that he wanted this to change.

He didn’t want to stop their little meetings during the off season, or the comfortable silences they shared, or the way they held each other after competitions.

But there was something he wanted to stop.

Yuri hated keeping secrets and was a terrible liar—he always had been. Still, he loved having someone to open up to and feel totally comfortable and safe with. But he hated that he had to hide it. Because not only were he and Jean rivals on the ice, they were both men, and with such a significant age difference. If they came out to the world with their ‘relationship’, it would mean a lot of trouble for both of them, and the people around them. Yakov would probably have a heart attack and die on the spot if Yuri and Jean pulled any tricks like Katsudon and Victor.

He sighed. He knew what he needed to do. With a worried expression, Yuri pulled out his phone and selected the Canadian’s contact and hit call.

_Riiiiiiing… Riiiiiiing… Riiiiiiing…_

_“Hello? Yuri? How are you, mon cher?”_ “I need to see you.” Yuri wasted no time with idle conversation, choosing to get straight to the point. _“Ah, but..”_ “But what, Leroy?” He growled out in confusion.

This was strange. Did Jean not want to see him? Was something going on?

_“It’s nothing, mon cher. It’s just, well, you see..”_

“Spit it out, would you?”

_“Your birthday is coming up, yes?”_

“Huh? Yeah, why?”

_“I kind of already bought the plane tickets cause I wanted to surprise you and—“_

“Oh my god, Jean, are you serious?”

_“Of course I am, mon cher! I would not lie to you!”_

Oh. There it is.

A warm, fuzzy feeling invaded Yuri’s heart and mind when he heard those words. I would not lie to you! They echoed through his head, blocking out all other thoughts.

_“Mon cher? Are you still there? Oh dear, what time is it in Russia? Did you fall asleep?_

“I’m not asleep.” Yuri muttered. Softly, as if anticipating something—anything. When he got nothing in return, he kept talking.

“Do you mean it, when you say that to me?”

_“Say what, mon cher?”_

“That you.. That you won’t lie to me.”

There was silence. Unlike the comfortable silences they shared with each other when they were together. Then, quietly, Jean’s voice echoed across the line once again.

_“Yuri, what’s bothering you?_

“Nothing, I, I just..”

**Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice.**

_“Please, talk to me, Yuri. I want to understand.”_

**Maybe I just wanted to know that you won’t leave me.**

“I wanted to talk to you. About us. About the way things are.”

**Maybe I just wanted to tell you…**

_“The way things are?”_

“I love you.”

Yuri’s words were quiet, barely above a whisper, but still loud enough to be heard. This wasn’t how he intended the conversation to go, confessing his love to the Canadian was definitely NOT on his to-do list for the night.

Silence.

And then it happened. He heard it. That awful dial tone saying that his partner was gone, that he wouldn’t hear his voice again, that he..

That he would get to hear Jean say it to him.

That elusive phrase, that **_I love you too_** , the pair had been skating around for weeks—months.

It took a few moments for what he had heard to register in Yuri’s head.

The unmistakable sound of the call ending.

Jean had hung up the call. After Yuri confessed his love to him.

**Oh God.**

The phone dropped out of his hand, landing on the bed softly.

“What have I done?”


	3. Love and Little White Lies Do Not Mix Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ was shocked, and Yuri was horrified by his own words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have chosen to lengthen this due to the fact that I have no goddamn self control when I'm writing and I always reach 1000 words too frickin fast.

He was in shock. He didn’t know what to do or say. Yuri just confessed his love, and here he was—saying nothing, doing nothing.

 

So, before he realized what he was doing,

 

He hung up.

 

And, as he reached for his laptop to reschedule his flight, it registered in his mind that, not only had Yuri told JJ he loved him, but JJ had hung up the call without bothering to say anything in return.

 

“I’m an idiot.” He let out a loud sigh, selecting tickets for the day after next and growling when he realized that was the soonest he could get unless he wanted to wait three weeks. Which he didn’t. JJ needed to see Yuri, to sort out everything. He and Yuri had a really strong connection, JJ knew that. But could their connection survive his own idiocy? Who knew? Well, the Canadian was sure as hell going to find out. After all, he..

 

He..

 

Did he love Yuri?

 

What he felt for the young Russian was unlike anything he had felt before. Because of this, he had no idea what to call it. Their relationship, however abstract, was certainly strong enough to call the feelings between them love. 

 

“I love.. I love him.” JJ mumbled, tossing his laptop to the side and beginning to rummage through the closet for his suitcase.

 

“Jean, honey, what are you doing?” _Oh shit. His mother._ “Just packing, mom, I just, some of the skaters from the last Grand Prix are getting together soon.”

 

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shi—_

 

“Really? Where are you going?

 

“Uh, Russia. Since, well, since Victor and Katsudon and the other Yuuri are all there already it makes it easier for the rest of us to just, uh, come to them I guess. We’re all meeting up in Moscow.”

 

His mind was moving a mile a minute by the time the sentence left his lips and there was a moment of silence before he realized his mistake.

 

He had called Yuuri Katsuki ‘Katsudon’—Yuri’s nickname for the Japanese skater.

 

“K-Katsudon?” His mother echoed in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

 

_SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHI—_

 

“Yuuri Katsuki’s nickname, Nathalie.” His father appeared seemingly out of nowhere to rest his arm around his wife’s shoulders, and Jean cursed his own obliviousness. His father was a _very_ observant man, and he knew JJ’s habits _very_ well.

 

“I left some tea for you downstairs, how about we watch something together?” His dad looked at his spouse fondly, smiling when she turned to go downstairs.

 

Sometimes they were so in love it was kind of gross, but JJ had long since passed that childish way of thinking.

 

“Jean, what’s this about Russia?”

 

**Oh. There it is.**

 

“Just going for a visit to meet up with some friends from the Grand Prix.”

 

“Oh? Like who?” JJ watched in masked horror as his father’s eyebrows raised a bit, not believing his son **_in the least_**.

 

“The usual crew, the Yuri’s, Victor, Phichit and Chris, and Phichit is still trying to convince Otabek, Guang-Hong, and Leo to come too. Though I’m not sure how that’s going for him..” The last part was mumbled, as if JJ thought that the quieter he spoke, the less likely it is for his father to see through his lies.

 

“When are you all planning on meeting?”

 

“Next week, it was kind of last second, and the airline I always use only has tickets for the day after next and I don’t want to miss this and..”

 

“And?”

 

“And it’ll be a good chance to do something other than practice. You know how the stress gets to me, dad.” JJ finished, flashing his father one of his thousand-watt smiles while pulling his red luggage out of the closet.

 

“Well, be safe. Do you want to hire security guards or anything before you go?”

 

JJ shook his head, unbelievably glad that his father took the bait.

 

“I’ll be alright without them. I’m the king, y’know!”

 

———————

Meanwhile…

———————

 

Yuri tossed and turned, alone in bed. His cat had since gotten tired of listening to him cry and left for the couch. His sobs had quiet down and he slowly grew lonelier and lonelier. He lived alone, and with his most recent mistake, he now couldn’t turn to Jean for comfort.

 

Right.

 

**_Jean._ **

 

Jean. Jean-Jacques-fucking-Leroy.

 

The man he was in love with.

 

The man who wasn’t in love with him.

 

The man who tolerated him enough to hold him at night and call him on weekends and get in trouble for texting during practice and kiss him in hotel rooms and treat him so well, so fucking well.

 

The man who hung up the second Yuri told him he loved him.

 

The man who probably hated him now.

 

Yuri groaned, pressing his face into the pillow. _I’m fucking turning into the Katsudon.._ Growling, he let a new wave of tears run down his face, pulling away from the pillow and choosing to lay on his side, curling up into a tight ball as quiet sobs wracked his body once again and loneliness became better acquainted with his mind.

 

Yuri Plisetsky, Russian figure skater, 15 years old.

 

Crying over someone who he’d relied on, in secrecy, for months.

 

Crying over a man who’d never hold him again.

 

Crying over a man who’d never tell him he loved him too, and that he was sorry he hung up—he was just surprised.

 

Crying was something Yuri wouldn’t admit to doing. It made him feel weak, and he hated feeling weak.

 

_Weak_.

 

It was something he tried to avoid like the plague, and, somehow, all it took was a few sweet words from a Canadian douchebag to break his spirit and his heart.

 

Yuri was in pieces, with no one to turn to.

 

So he cried.

 

He stayed in bed and he cried.


	4. Sunshine Inside Airports While A Storm Rages Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri checks on Yuri(o) while Jean suffers in an airport. That's it. That's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, but you'll be happy to know that C5 is already almost done so YAY! TBH I've had this finished for so long and it's just been sitting there and I'm sorry.
> 
> Also, just so you know, one of our friends from Haikyuu!! shows up in this chapter and more join our little ball of sunshine that is Hinata Shoyo in the next one.

It had been two days since Yuri started falling apart. He hadn’t shown up to practice since then, choosing instead to wallow in sorrow and self-loathing at home. He claimed he was ‘sick’ with the ‘flu’ and that ‘a few days in bed will help’. Of course, no one really believed him, but they decided not to give him a hard time because they all agreed that a few days off would be good for him. Yuri needed time away from stress, he needed time to relax and recover. But still, Yuuri couldn’t help but worry for the younger skater. After he had come to Russia with Victor post-GPF, he had become rather protective of Yuri. Which is why he found himself in a taxi and on the way to see Yuri. Fishing his phone out of his pocket while the car drove down the swirling streets, he dialed the teen’s number again.

 

_Riiiing…_

_Riiiing…_

_Riiiing…_

 

_Click.._

 

_“What the fuck, Katsudon?”_ Yuri growled out, his voice crackly over the phone. He sounded strained, almost like his throat was sore and raw.

 

“Ah, Yurio! How are you feeling?”

 

_“Like shit. Why are you calling?”_

 

“Well, you see, I was worried about you and…” Yuuri’s voice shook a little as the cab began to approach Yuri’s street.

 

_“Worried? Why? I’m just sick.”_ Yuri was getting defensive, Yuuri knew this. He recognized the behavior.

 

“Yurio, I… Well, you’ll see. Come to the door in a minute or so, okay?”

 

_“The door? Oh my God, are you coming over? What the fuck?”_

 

“I’m worried, okay? I’ll see you soon.” Yuuri almost shouted into the phone before clicking the ‘end call’ button and looking out the window to point out the house to the driver. As the taxi slowed to a stop he took a deep breath, gathered his things, and prepared himself to deal with Yurio’s anger.

 

Jean sighed and leaned back in the stiff plastic seat and listened to the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded airport around him. He had been on this plane for quite a while, but had to make a precautionary landing due to changes in weather that made it unsafe to fly. Now, as he tried to relax and ignore the chaos, he couldn’t help but think about his terrible luck. Jean-Jacques Leroy, professional figure skater, on his way to make a grand romantic gesture to the love of his life in another country, was stuck in some goddamn airport in New York City because of a storm. Groaning, he slid down in his chair and pulled his sunglasses over his eyes.

 

“Can’t believe this, huh?”

 

Jean looked over at the source of the voice, finding it to be a stranger in a puffy jacket. Though the jacket—it reminded JJ of a balloon—hid their physique, they appeared to be rather small and thin. They had one of their hands shoved into a pocket, and the other toyed with the mop of ginger curls at the top of their head.

 

“I guess.” He growled out and looked away, trying to make it obvious how displeased he was with this person’s presence.

 

“I mean, why would they cancel the flight at the last second and then refuse to find us a hotel room because they have to help the passengers from Canada first?”

 

“Wait, what?” Jean straightened up and pushed his sunglasses back onto his head to give the stranger more of his attention. Now, with a better angle, he was able to make some more detailed observations about them. He-at least Jean thought they were a he-was small, with unruly hair and angled eyes that shone bright and reflected the world around him. His hair was definitely the most distracting thing about them, the bright paprika colored curls looked messy and tangled. He might be Asian, maybe Japanese? Jean was unsure, and decided not to think too hard on the matter.

 

“Right? So unfair! Anyway, I’m Hina-“

 

“No, no, what did you say about the hotel rooms for the Canadian passengers?”

 

“I was trying to introduce myself, mister.” The stranger pulled his hands out of his pocket and away from the tangles of his hair that he had only been making worse and crossed them in front of him.

 

“Introductions? Oh, I’m JJ. Nice to meet you, whatever. Now, what were you saying?” Jean pulled his glasses off of his head and ran a hand through his own hair.

 

“Well then, I’m Hinata Sho-wait, no, it’s the other way around here, right?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Names! Is it family-given or given-family?”

 

“Do you not know how to introduce yourself?”

 

“Wait, the west calls them last and first, right?”

 

JJ just looked at the stranger—‘Hinata Sho-something’—in confusion as he fumbled around, trying to figure out how to tell Jean something as simple as _his name_. He groaned, quickly losing patience with him as he turned around to say something to someone else, _probably asking how to introduce himself_. Jean watched him run his fingers through his hair and tug on the bright curls in frustration when his mind drew a blank. The stranger growled, sinking into a crouch and mumbling something to himself.

 

“What was that?”

 

“I… …lish.”

 

“Huh? I can’t understand you if you’re mumbling.”

 

“I hate English!” He shouted and jumped back into an upright position, startling several other people and drawing the attention of a few off-duty flight attendants.

 

“Oh, for Christ sake, just introduce yourself the way you normally would.” JJ dropped his head into his hands and whispered. He doubted that they heard him and groaned. He had already known this was going to be a long trip, but now this kid was making it feel like an eternity was between him and his dear Yuri.


End file.
